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Special to The Citizen Sylvia Earle, marine biologist and renowned explorer, is seen aboard the research vessel Tiburon with Tim Taylor, whom she supported for an Explorers Club nomination.

The club, marking its centennial anniversary this year, counts people like Neil Armstrong and Sir Edmund Hillary among its esteemed and varied membership. Conversation over the dinner table includes tales of intrigue and danger, cutting-edge research and unbounded frontiers.

Explorers Club members aren't just skiers, they are alpine masters who have scaled Mount Everest — while making notes on a scientific aspect of the journey. Explorers are not animal enthusiasts who pay thousands of dollars for a guided African safari, but rather naturalists living in the wild and noting the diminishing population numbers of a threatened species. They aren't beachcombers, but accomplished scuba divers who spend much of their lives below the earth's surface studying its intricacies and meeting the residents of the deep.

Tim Taylor of Key West is one such diver who will join the ranks of the Explorers Club next weekend at the club's annual dinner in New York City.

President, CEO and captain of the research vessel Tiburon, Taylor earned his spot on the membership roster because of his discovery of, and subsequent research into, a rare coral formation at the Dry Tortugas National Park that Taylor named Sherwood Forest.

Sherwood Forest boasts an expansive canopy of coral formations that thrive in 60 to 130 feet of water — significantly deeper than other coral areas. Taylor showed "the forest" to a group of scientists working aboard the research vessel, and their interest in the area led to eventual formation of the Tortugas Ecological Reserve. The protected waters now allow the 9,000-year-old reef to survive as a necessary part of the surrounding habitat.

But Explorers Club membership takes more than exciting dives and unique coral. An active club member must endorse a candidate for membership and a second to that nomination is required.

Taylor is being sponsored by diving and marine science legends Sylvia Earle and Eugenie Clark. Earle is a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, while Clark is the Eminent Scientist & Trustee Emerita from Mote Marine Laboratories and is also an honorary director of the Explorers Club.

"His passion for understanding nature and sharing these observations with the appropriate researchers has led to insights in animal behavior and leads for scientists," Clark wrote in a letter supporting Taylor's membership. "I remember vividly a deep dive with Tim looking for sleeping sharks under the wing of a sunken airplane. We missed the sharks, but it was the first time I had a good close-up look at a sailfish underwater while hanging on the line that Tim had tied to the sunken airplane. Tim truly has the spirit of an underwater explorer and I am sure that the Explorers Club would be pleased to have him as a member."

Taylor will be in New York next weekend mingling with fellow explorers and dining on food that tests the boundaries of culinary norms, including appetizers that include scorpions, worms and other insects.

"The discovery of Sherwood Forest about 10 years ago really started it all with the Explorers Club," Taylor said Thursday while aboard the R/V Tiburon.

He is getting ready for a May shark research trip with Mote Marine scientist Wes Pratt, who is studying the habits and population of the elusive and docile nurse shark in Keys waters. The Tiburon also is participating in spotted dolphin research and has space on board for participants to join an expedition for a week or more.

On at least one of the upcoming expeditions, the vessel will also carry the legendary red and white Explorers Club flag that has been carried up mountains and been miles below sea level at the site of the Titanic. Explorers must submit applications for an approved flag expedition.

"We're applying for one in the fall for deep-dive work on a schooner that wrecked off the Keys in about 220 feet of water. But we have plans to carry that flag on several expeditions."

Taylor's next expedition will take him and his children, Brooke and Garett, to the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City for the annual dinner.

"They're the next generation of explorers so I want them to see what this is all about," Taylor said, looking forward to being in the same room with Everest master Sir Edmund Hillary, who is a keynote speaker and the honorary president of the club.

mbolen@keysnews.com

Other Florida Keys Explorers:

Dr. William P. Calvert (Marathon)

Kim Fisher (Key West)

Jack Stein Grove (Key Largo)

Ian G. Koblick (Key Largo)

Douglas B. Seba (Key West)

Carol L. Tedesco (Key West)

Hugo S. Vihlen (Key Largo)

Information from the Southern Florida Chapter.